
Trump says Tehran should be 'immediately' evacuated
US President says Iran should have accepted deal he told them to sign
US President Donald Trump said "everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran" in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
"Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life," he wrote.
His comments came as Israel reportedly engaged in a renewed attack on Tehran following an earlier Iranian barrage.
Mr Trump reiterated his view that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

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Zawya
32 minutes ago
- Zawya
Trump urges Tehran evacuation as Iran-Israel conflict enters fifth day
TEL AVIV/DUBAI: Israel and Iran attacked each other for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, and U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians to evacuate Tehran, citing what he said was the country's rejection of a deal to curb nuclear weapons development. Trump was due to leave the Group of Seven summit in Canada later on Monday, a day early, due to the Middle East situation, the White House said. Fox News reported he would convene his National Security Council. "Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform. French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump's early departure from the G7 was positive, given the immediate objective was to get Israel and Iran to agree to a ceasefire that the U.S. had proposed. "There is an offer that has been made, especially to have a ceasefire and to initiate broader discussions. And I think this is a very good thing," Macron told reporters. "So now we need to see what the stakeholders will do." Iranian media reported explosions and heavy air defence fire in Tehran early on Tuesday. Air defences were activated also in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations 320 km (200 miles) away, the Asriran news website reported. A White House aide said it was not true that the U.S. was attacking Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News that Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran, while adding the U.S. would defend its assets in the region. In Israel, air raid sirens wailed in Tel Aviv after midnight and an explosion was heard as Iranian missiles targeted the country again. Iranian officials reported 224 deaths, mostly civilians, in five days, while Israel said 24 civilians had been killed. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said nearly 3,000 Israelis had been evacuated due to damage from Iranian strikes. Sources told Reuters that Tehran had asked Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to urge Trump to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to an immediate ceasefire. In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, according to two Iranian and three regional sources. "If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X. "Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue." Netanyahu told reporters on Monday that Israel was committed to eliminating threats posed by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, adding, "If this can be achieved in another way—fine. But we gave it a 60-day chance." Speaking to Reuters on Friday, the first day of Israel's assault, Trump said he had given the Iranians 60 days to come to an agreement to halt uranium enrichment and that the time had expired with no deal. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes. Oil prices rallied more than 2% early in Asia on Tuesday after Trump's evacuation warning, reversing losses on Monday amid reports that Iran was seeking an end to hostilities. CHINESE URGED TO LEAVE ISRAEL With security concerns growing and Israeli airspace closed because of the war, the Chinese embassy in Israel urged its citizens to leave the country via land border crossings as soon as possible. The Iran-Israel air war - the biggest battle ever between the two longtime enemies - escalated on Monday with Israel targeting Iran's state broadcaster and uranium enrichment facilities. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC that the Natanz plant sustained extensive damage, likely destroying 15,000 centrifuges, while Iran's Fordow plant remained largely intact. Talks between the United States and Iran, hosted by Oman, had been scheduled for June 15 but were scrapped, with Tehran saying it could not negotiate while under attack. Israel launched its air war with a surprise attack that has killed nearly the entire top echelon of Iran's military commanders and its leading nuclear scientists. It says it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in the coming days. Trump has consistently said the Israeli assault could end quickly if Iran agreed to U.S. demands that it accept strict curbs on its nuclear programme. "As I've been saying, I think a deal will be signed, or something will happen, but a deal will be signed, and I think Iran is foolish not to sign," Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday. A U.S. official said Trump would not sign a draft statement from G7 leaders calling for a de-escalation of the conflict. The draft statement says Iran must never have a nuclear weapon and that Israel has the right to defend itself.


Zawya
32 minutes ago
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UK maritime firm says it is aware of incident east of UAE's Khor Fakkan
British maritime security firm Ambrey said early on Tuesday it was aware of an incident 22 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates, near the Strait of Hormuz, as Israel and Iran attack each other for a fifth straight day. The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from Vortexa. There was no immediate response to Reuters' request for comment from the Emirati foreign ministry or Khor Fakkan container terminal in the early hours of Tuesday. Israel launched wide-scale strikes against Iran on Friday, saying it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran, which has denied such intentions, has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz for traffic in retaliation to Western pressure. Experts have said that any closure of the strait could restrict trade and impact global oil prices. (Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christopher Cushing)


The National
34 minutes ago
- The National
The road to Middle East peace runs through Palestine
As civilians in Israel and Iran contend with the horrific realities of war, many trying to get out of urban centres, another group of non-combatants has nowhere to hide as nightly air strikes take their deadly toll. It was reported at the weekend that Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 57 people, with the Palestinian enclave's health authorities saying at least five people were killed on Sunday near aid sites operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. These deaths are just the latest in nearly 20 months of bombardments against a territory with no sirens, air-raid shelters or even functioning infrastructure. Indeed, the continuing immiseration of more than two million people presents a very different picture of conflict to the aerial war taking place between Israel and Iran. The surprise attacks by Israel and the subsequent Iranian retaliation in many ways reflect Israel's image of itself – that of a small country audaciously striking first at an existential threat in a hostile region. But the region is not hostile in the way the Israeli narrative claims. Dozens of Arab and Muslim countries have repeatedly stated that they are willing to establish ties and develop security relationships with Israel in return for halting the war in Gaza, ending the military occupation of Palestinian land, finding a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue and working towards a two-state solution. Indeed, it is a bitter irony that a high-level UN conference on Palestinian statehood planned for this week has been postponed by its organisers because of the conflict that is being fought in the Middle East's skies. Although derailing an international meeting on a two-state solution may suit Israeli leaders opposed to such a settlement, the fact remains that the country's best guarantee of security is full integration into its neighbourhood through a just political settlement with the Palestinians. Instead of establishing security, this escalation gives Tehran the excuse of self-defence with which to continue developing its nuclear programme in defiance of international opinion But the UN conference is not the only talks process to suffer. The escalating attacks between Iran and Israel scuttled nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran that were supposed to take place last weekend in Oman. The war is also likely to produce discord rather than consensus at the G7 meeting taking place in Canada. Ali Vaez, Iran Project director at the International Crisis Group, told The National on Sunday that he did not expect the summit to yield any significant movement towards peace, in part because of the countries' refusal to criticise or condemn Israel's acts of aggression against Tehran. Instead of establishing security, this escalation potentially gives Tehran the excuse of self-defence with which to continue developing its nuclear programme in defiance of international opinion. In addition, it undermines the possibility of Israeli security guarantees that would be based on its regional relationships and instead of dependency on the US. Without a political end to the Palestinian-Israel conflict, the region's future looks like what is presently unfolding – a precarious place beset by managed conflict that threatens to break out into damaging rounds of violence. In the long run, the road to Middle East peace runs through Palestine.